My Day on a Plate: Sustainable Homeware Founder Natania Hinwood

Natania Hinwood is the founder of eco-friendly office and homeware brand and online store, Sachi and Daphs. Natania wanted to combine her knowledge of business and marketing with her love of entertaining and interest in sustainable design to make a difference in the world. After noticing a gap in the market for modern, sleek yet sustainable décor for your home and office, Natania decided to disrupt the design industry and start an environmentally conscious business, Sachi and Daphs. Based in Brisbane, this wife and mother of two is on a mission to drive positive change in the industry providing eco-friendly alternatives.

We're all about eco-friendly living so we sat down with Natania and asked her what her day looks like on a plate.

Breakfast

As a busy mum, I find the mornings always need a little caffeine kick. A flat white accompanies my breakfast. I’m a savoury girl so tend to lean towards a hot breakfast over fruit or cereal. I enjoy cooking a big batch of egg and bacon muffins (sneaking some spinach and tomatoes in for good measure) or some savoury pumpkin muffins. Both of which can be frozen and can be eaten on the go. If I’m out an about, a ham and cheese croissant is my go-to.

Lunch

Lunch is usually a simple salad using up whatever is in the fridge. There is usually some sort of protein left over in the fridge from the night before; chicken, salmon, beef – I’m not fussy and will mix it through. I have a pretty decent herb garden and some cherry tomatoes growing in my garden so I’ll always throw some fresh herbs in for some more flavor. I love the idea of growing your own produce and supporting local.

Dinner

Soup! It freezes well, you can cook up big batches and it can be an alternative to a salad or sandwich for lunch. My favourite is a delicious and easy Lentil and Bacon Soup followed closely by Creamy Pumpkin Soup. Shortly after commencing maternity leave, a friend and I decided to get together once a week to do meal prep. It gave us a chance to get us out of the house (we’d alternate between houses each week), catch up, and do something productive – prepare a couple of meals for the week. This ritual somehow turned into “Champagne Tuesdays” with more Champagne being consumed than meals prepared.

Snacks

Sunday afternoon is usually meal prep time. My husband and like to turn on the tunes and get ready for the week ahead. We’re a “do it the night before” kind of family and prefer to make lunches at night rather than creating more chaos in the mornings. Raw is the common theme when preparing our weekly snacks – carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes, capsicum, apples, grapes, a rainbow of colour fills our lunch boxes. Nuts and yoghurt also help to carry me over until meal time. I consider myself to be a reasonably healthy eater however there wouldn’t be a Netflix session complete without my sweet obsession of a few Oreos and glass of icy cold milk.

RECIPE – Lentil & Bacon Soup

Ingredients:

4 cans of lentils drained

1 can of diced tomatoes

A Bunch of continental parsley (finely chopped)

3 x chicken stock cubes

1 x teaspoon of garlic (finely chopped)

1kg of organic free range bacon (chopped)

3 x cups of celery (finely chopped)

2 x carrots (finely chopped)

2 x cnions (finely chopped)

cracked pepper (to taste)

Method:

In a large pot, fry the onion and garlic in oil. Once browned, remove.

Cook bacon until brown.

Return onion and garlic to pot and add celery, carrot and parsley. Cook for a few minutes.

Add diced tomatoes and lentils.

Add a generous amount of pepper

Add 4 x cups of water and 3 x Chicken stock cubes

The whole contents in the pot should be immersed in liquid and simmer and partily cover.